Let's back up a few minutes,

Right when Melinda and Lillian began to battle and Emily had blasted Arya back and stood by Hal's side.

Arya glared at the two of them and frowned when she felt the pressure that was coming off Emily's body.

It was the same as hers; the Early stage of the Cosmic Pagoda realm.

She had to admit that she had not expected to meet an expert of such caliber in this city and to make matters worse, had Emily not engaged her directly, she would have been incapable of sensing the Gray-eyed lady's strength.

However, if they thought that was enough to derail her plans, they had another thing coming.

She would just refine all of them.

The Blood Essence of a Cosmic Pagoda realm expert would be quite exhilarating, to say the least.

Emily began to condense another Cosmic Aurora which was in the form of a miniature multi-colored cloud that packed so much energy, it raised Hal's feeling of danger despite them being on the same side.

The condensation took barely a second and she tossed it right at Arya who tossed hers in an interception and the explosion from the two attacks was so strong that a few Plebeians were caught in the blast and were either injured or lost their lives.

Speaking of the Plebeians...

Out of the multitude of Men they used to have, they had been cut down and only a few hundred were left.

Hundreds of which the Blood Knights, the ladies and the Emissaries chased after once they began to attempt a retreat.

They hunted them down to the last man and killed them all.

The Great family forces simply stared towards the end as their services were no longer needed and they admitted to the superior strength of Hal's faction who had done what they had struggled to do, with relative ease.

The Great family heads were having good progress as well because they had a humongous viper on their side, a viper that showcased viciousness and physical capabilities worthy of a Demonic Beast.

Olivia also killed quite a few as well as Emily's Aurora had been enough to protect her from the effects of Sassy's Toxic arrow.

However, the most engaging battle was most likely that of the Runemasters, Baret and Ian who had protected themselves against Sassy's arrow with Protective Runes, against the Edgar brothers...

Call it a bond between friends but once San was defeated and forced to his knees, it had infuriated the two so much that their prowess with Runes and Armaments increased exponentially.

So much so that they withstood the brothers who were aided by the Devil shroud.

Granted, Darryl and Marlon were not at the Peak stage of the Cosmic Armament Realm and should probably be commended even more for fighting with stronger experts on a nearly equal footing.

Revenge!

That was what was in the eyes of the Brothers as they managed to land strikes on the chests of the Two runemasters and send them careening backward.

The two leaped back to their feet, quite alert that Karon would not be occupied for too long and it would be prudent to defeat the brothers now.

Maybe it was about time they made use of an Array.

It was going to be the type that had been used against Hal in Tretch forest. An array drawn with an Inadequate copy of the siphoning Rune.

The two retrieved the scroll and it was then that they noticed Arya place her hand on San's shoulder,

"Master?" They had mumbled before they witnessed it first hand as she siphoned San's Blood Essence and left him a mere husk.

Their mouths gaped as they witnessed this terrifying sight and their close friend lost his life in the hands of their benefactor.

What the hell was going on? They both thought before a large serpent tail swiped their legs and fell them.

As soon as Sassy had those two on the ground, she returned to going after any other Plebeian on the hill while Darryl and Marlon dashed forward and stabbed the Runemasters.

Not to kill them.

No, they would not do that yet.

They wished to torture the two first so as to give them a semblance of what Hector had suffered in that Array.

Any other Plebeian family head was dead already as no one else other than the two brothers had torture on their mind.

Even Karon had killed the one he had been entangled with.

Arya looked up and smiled at the death of the Plebeians even though at that point, she and Emily still fought each other with long-distance attacks.

Hal watched as the last of the Plebeians died and saw what Arya's guarantee had been.

He had once said it that the Master's plans were not yet complete but at the time, he had no idea what it was that the plan missed but now he knew;

It was the pills.

Arya always wanted the Plebeians to lose and from the moment she arrived on the battlefield, she was already monopolizing all the Blood essence so much so that the Blood Knights could no longer absorb the essence of their kill.

She was not yet absorbing it of course.

And Hal was sure she was planning to do it in a flashy fashion.

Anyway,

The pills had been the completion to the plan with which the Great family forces had turned the tides and managed to even the field a little against the Plebeians, however, it was rendered useless when the Plebeians made use of the same kind of pills but in an even larger quantity.

An endeavor that caused the Plebeians to be back on the winning track.

And that was what confused Hal as he was sure Arya could not have made her plans with his Blood Knights in mind.

Which meant that had he not interfered with his forces, the Plebeians would have won.

It was quite nerve-wracking as he tried to make it into the mind of this lunatic who Emily was presently battling.

"What am I missing?" Hal mumbled.

He was hanging back because the battle between the two was not something he could interfere with.

And then he thought of something.

A misconception that the Plebeians were the only ones Arya was after.

What if she was after the Great families as well.

That would mean the pills were a failsafe for both sides...

"Hahaha hahaha. You still don't get it, do you? You lose!" And with that Arya used the collision of blasts between her and Emily to leap backward and then join her palms together.

A Bloodred pentagram formed between her palms once she pulled them apart,

"Awake, My minions!" She yelled.

At first, nothing happened and the pentagram looked like it might have just being for show when one of those who had transformed into Flame Demons and had their lives reaped once the effects wore off, twitched.

Then it was not just one, but all of those who had taken the Beseek pill, even those who were part of the Great family force and had been pulled back once unconscious so as not to be killed.

All of them stood up and the crack lines that had been on their body combusted as they became Flame Demons once again and whatever life they had before was extinguished.

However, if before their eyes had been void, this time it was dead and was clear they had lost their individuality.

They were mere puppets now but puppets whose strength was supplied by Arya and their targets did not distinguish between friend or foe.

Anyone who was not Arya was a target...